Until Next Time
by The Ghost of Shugar Highs Past
Summary: "I know I am not one to be super open usually and I know I don't believe in being meant to be , but if I was I would know in a heartbeat that you are my soulmate." Stuck in a rut , middle aged Toby Cavanaugh doesn't have a lot to hold onto , what little he does have is an affair with a free spirited girl who is half his age and has a troubled past that traps her. Spoby AU


_**Until Next Time**_

"I know I am not one to be super open usually and I know I don't believe in being meant to be and stuff like that , but if I was I would know in a heartbeat that you are my soulmate." Stuck in a rut , middle aged Toby Cavanaugh doesn't have a lot to hold onto , what little he does have is an affair with a free spirited bartender who is half his age has a troubled past that traps her. Spoby AU

* * *

"Toby I swear to God that if you walk out that door then don't expect the locks to be the same when you come home." Alison screams at him in the living room. A threat that is as empty as the one she screams at him every other night when he goes out for his drinks to drown the pain of being in a rut.

Toby Cavanaugh is a man of many things. Once the apple of his hometowns eye for being a successful photographer who traveled the world in his early twenties with a camera in hand and a need in his heart to see greater things than his small town. He found beauty in things that others found horrifying , he could find a way to catch the tiniest glimmer of light in a crowd of darkness and somehow capture it on camera. When he wasn't traveling from country to country he resided in a small Brooklyn apartment with his best friend Caleb. The glory years lasted into the two guys early thirties when they finally each settled down. Caleb with a fashion designer named Hanna and Toby with a former model who he met at one of his exhibits. Yes it was Alison, or at least the Alison he used to know . The fun and bubbly Alison who made a room shine whenever she walked in.

Married and successful by the time he was thirty five , the world at his fingertips and a hot wife to come home to every night. The marriage was nothing more than a sham at first in his mind , once his parents met her the first thing his mother did was give him his grandmothers ring. Told him he would be crazy to let her get away. Sure they had been dating for a year but when you take away the weeks they would spend apart they were only really together for a few months at most. Of course after they were married for a couple years and a planned pregnancy later Alison demanded that they move closer to her parents in Rosewood.

So here they were twenty minutes away from her parents and a hour away from his parents . Two kids named David and Mila and a beautiful home . The perfect looking couple. The perfect looking family. His thriving photography studio and her raising their children with a perfect smile on her face and an illusion of perfection. Apart from the fact that he needed a drink every day and she was cheating on him with their daughters dance teacher but that was all irrelevant.

"Welcome to Radley's " The bartender says as Toby enters the smoky room filled with other people trying to drink to forget their miserable lives. All of them except for the one that serves them their drinks.

Toby takes his usual stool as he watches her tend to another customer. Once she pours the man his drink before shooting Toby a look. The look he recalls is different from the one she gave him when they fucked in the bathroom three days prior.

"You really are a glutton for punishment aren't you." She tells him as she pours Toby his usual.

"You know what they say about me , I have always been able to find a beauty in the pain." He retorts and she rolls her eyes.

"I don't think I have ever heard that but then again what do I know? It's not like people really talk to me here anyway. " She said and he knew it was true. From the moment Toby and Alison moved into town they were all told about the crazy Hastings girl who lost her husband a couple years prior in a car wreck she barely survived. Twenty six and a widow , some say she crashed the car on purpose . Others say she was too drunk to function in her every day life and couldn't drive straight . She was outcasted by her community and the only person who took her in was the local bar owner Ezra Fitz.

Spencer Hastings Kingston was an enigma to Toby. She was a free spirit trapped in the cage of Rosewood. The girl that would never leave . Toby sometimes wondered when he left her apartment after a drinking binge if she treated other guys like she treated him. He deduced that she had daddy issues since he was fifteen years her senior , and her husband was eight years older than her. She always claimed that she just liked sex and it didn't matter who it was with. Or at least that is what she said. Toby figured that she was smarter than she let on too , she never talked about her life before Wren died but Spencer once let on that the two of them met when she was in nursing school . Wren was a doctor at the hospital she was doing her training at. From what he heard the doctor and nursing student married a half year after meeting.

"What time do you get off tonight?" Toby asked cutting to the chase that he had no desire to play.

"Well Ezra called in sick so it will be just me until two. But I don't think its a good idea for you to come over tonight , I have to be up early tomorrow. Brunch with the family." She explains to Toby and he wonders if she is just trying to brush him off.

"If you don't want to see me tonight , all you need to do is tell me. I'm a big boy , I can handle it." Toby tells Spencer who looks away quickly from him over to the other end of the bar where someone motioned for another drink.

They have this exchange every once in a while. Spencer trying to get out of Toby's reach just a little so that she can wallow in self pity or taking her turn to drink and forget everything that happened between her and her past. Every once in a while Toby respects her wishes and leaves her alone for the night , a couple times he has gone to to her apartment with her and just sat in silence next to her as she talked about what her family had done that time that made her upset but most of the time he just kept on hovering around her to make sure she didn't do something stupid or self destructive .

"I just have plans early. If you want to stay you can , but I make no promises to do anything." Spencer says and Toby knows that is her way of wanting to avoid the subject by just giving in.

"We can just talk if you want."

"Again no promises." Then in an instant the subject is dropped.

* * *

Toby is still there when Spencer closes the bar , usually she will kick everyone but him out. The cook in the kitchen had already left leaving the two to their own devices. The hour is nearing three in the morning but Toby doesn't care. Alison is probably sleeping by now after looking up the earliest a locksmith could come. Probably having a number saved or something in case Toby didn't come home. It wouldn't be the first time he stayed at Spencer's apartment overnight , Alison could care less nine times out of ten.

"Can we at least just talk on the roof or something. We could get the flask and sit in some chairs. It was nice out earlier when I came , it should still be a little warm. I promise not to keep you busy for long." Toby tries to reason with Spencer who looks distraught for a second before rolling her eyes like he was greatly inconveniencing her.

"Fine , but if you are trying to get your way into coming home with me tonight then you will be disappointed. I would really like to not be the reason why Alison burns all of your things. I am having no gentlemen callers tonight." Spencer says and Toby knows that is code for no sex which he is fine with.

"I just want to talk. Something seems to nagging you tonight. Is it family problems?" Toby asked and Spencer shakes her head.

"Not really , I guess it is just life problems. Like why haven't I moved on with my life and left this town? I should have left for college instead of sticking around. I should have traveled and enjoyed being young. I should have challenged myself to be a doctor instead of opting for nursing school instead because it was cheaper and easier. I feel like I don't belong in my life. Like I was meant for something different. A different town , a different life. Maybe even a different time. "

"I wouldn't completely disagree with that. Some times we don't always go down the path we were supposed to. We try to forge our own destiny and it doesn't quite work out the way that we truly want it. I sometimes I wish I retired from photojournalism or at least stopped after my mother died. I should have gone home to see her instead of hopping on the next plane to Germany. I don't know. If there is a positive , If I didn't continue the fast track path I had I probably wouldn't have met you."

"Tell me , do you think in another time or another place we could be together?" She asks him as they sit overlooking the town of Rosewood in the lawn chairs that they still had set up from the last time they went up on the roof.

"I don't know , maybe. Maybe if I was younger or you were older we would have found a way to each other some how." He tries to reason and Spencer takes a sip from her flask before passing it to Toby who gladly took it before taking a swing of his own.

"I think we would. You see we are both bred miserable people and misery finds company. Not to over romanticize what we have but you and I are sort of like two broken puzzle pieces that somehow manage to fill in the others gap. I think if I were older then I wouldn't have met Wren , or maybe I would have who knows. I probably would be a nurse right now or even a doctor like I originally wanted. I wouldn't have gotten married or if I did it would have been for the right reasons. Not some stupid way to make Wren have an in with his boss and for me to pay off my student loans for a degree I never even got. "

"Did you love him?" Toby asks and there is a shift in the air between them. Moments pass in silence before she mutters a few simple words...

"Not like I love you." She says quietly enough that no one in the universe could hear her , just him.

"Why? Why do you love me?" He asks her looking her directly in the eye and all of a sudden nothing else matters

"Because you are the only person in this damn town who gives a fuck if I exist or not."

"What happened the night Wren died? Since you seem to be open like a book tonight. I figure now is the time if you were ever to tell me."

"We really are messed up aren't we? It was our second anniversary , I can remember the night as clear as day. We had just started talking about having a family and beginning to try after he received his promotion at work that he was in line for. I had quit school three months prior because Wren said that he could support the both of us and that I didn't need a degree. If I stayed in school I would have had a year left and could have been saving lives or help save lives right now. I also quit because I started going crazy , I was always paranoid and was so anxious that I was borderline suicidal. We went out to this fancy restaurant in the square that closed down last April I think. Dinner went great , the conversation was hopeful and full of support. We had to leave early because he had work early in the morning. Wren was driving us home , we were still laughing when I noticed something on the floor when I went to pick up the present he got me. It was my sisters bracelet." Spencer pauses for a moment before taking hold of the flask and taking a long swing . The memory obviously hitting a cord somewhere in her heart.

"They had been assuring me for a year that nothing was going on between them. That they just were close friends. The entire reason why I was doing my training at Rosewood Medical is because she asked Wren to do her a favor. She told me that her husband Ian and him were roommates or something , I forget. Before I started my training we would meet up a couple of times and talk about things, he always told me I was so beautiful and that he was smitten the moment he saw me. We knew each other a lot longer than the rumor mill suggested. I think I first met him a couple of weeks after I started college. I didn't realize him and Melissa were intimate back then until a few months ago when we got into that big fight. I asked him what it was doing there. He said it wasn't what it looked like. He was so busy trying to defend himself that he wasn't paying attention to the road. There was a flock of turkeys crossing the road and he swerved to avoid them. We crashed into a tree , Wren didn't have a seat belt on so he was flung through the windshield. The car was about to burst into flames so I used what little strength I had to try and climb out of the windshield despite the glass being shattered. My body was killing me but I managed to crawl out. Wren died on impact , and I lived. Simple as that. Someone started the lie that I was driving which is a hundred percent false. I don't even know who started it , probably Melissa."

"I'm sorry that happened to you." Toby says softly and Spencer rolls her eyes scoffing trying to distract from the silent tears rolling down her face.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. You didn't cheat on me. I mean you cheat on your wife with me but still , she is a fucking bitch and I hate her. Besides its no secret that she plays you like a puppet. Toby there is something I need to tell you. The reason why I didn't want to go out tonight. "

"Let me guess , is it because you and Melissa got into a fight?" Toby asked and Spencer shook her head .

"Before I tell you can you just do me one favor?"

"Sure , anything. "

"Can I take a photo of the two of us kissing? I know it is weird and creepy and out of nowhere but please can we just please do this?" She pleads to him and Toby feels as though he has no other choice.

"You won't show this to Alison right? I mean it's not like she would care but still , that would be pretty shitty payback for whatever she has done to piss you off. " Toby resists to laugh as Spencer rolls her eyes.

"Just call it a memento. Something for me to keep close to my heart whenever I am lonely." Spencer says quietly and Toby has a better grasp at what is bothering her , and it for once isn't family or Wren related.

"Well I guess you should get your phone out because who would I be if I made someone special like you feel lonely." Toby smiled at Spencer who mumbled something too quiet under her breath for him to hear.

He studied her like he always did. She wasn't the most vibrant girl he had ever met in his decades of existence but there was always a certain quality that she had that drew him in like a moth to a flame. He didn't know if it was the way her eyes lit up when she saw him or if it was the way she spoke like there was no age difference between them at all.

She was wise beyond her years , like she wasn't meant to be the age she is. Maybe that is why she never truly fit in around here , because this isn't the age her soul was supposed to be.

"You would be like everyone else but you." The mumble doesn't strike him at first because he knows its true but something in those words draw him physically close to her. Taking her head in his hands he slowly leans down to bring their lips together. The kiss meant to be chaste is soon deepened the second their lips touched. Toby bites Spencers lip lightly making her gasp lightly giving him the chance to slide his tongue into her mouth. Their mouth fighting for dominance. Spencer took her free hand and threaded it into Toby's hair as she pushed herself against him , trying to get as physically close as possible. Toby lowered one of his hands the small of her back trying to keep Spencer secure against him. The two of them seemingly molding to one entity connected on more than just physically.

Toby doesn't even realize that Spencer has taken a photo until he hears a faint click sound in the background. That doesn't stop him from relishing in the feeling of having Spencer close.

"I love you Toby Cavaunaugh." Spencer says after quickly pulling away.

"I love you too Spencer Hastings." Toby replies in a heartbeat.

Their first and last exchange of the words between them.

"I'm leaving town for about a month , maybe a little more or maybe a little less. The details are hazy now but I need to go to visit some of Wrens relatives in England for a couple weeks and then I am traveling west to see my brother Jason for a little. Since he understandably refuses to ever see this town or our dad ever again I am going to stay with him for a little. Then I will be back before you know it." Spencer tries to reassure Toby but something tugs in his gut knowing that isnt all to the plan. He doesn't want to press further.

"Well I guess this is it for now? Until we see each other again?" Toby asks and Spencer nods.

"I know I am not one to be super open usually and I know I don't believe in being meant to be and stuff like that , but if I was I would know in a heartbeat that you are my soulmate." Spencer speaks quietly and Toby pulls her into a deep soul crushing hug. Trying to cocoon them together to keep away from the world that was seemingly pushing them apart .

"Why couldn't have I met you before Alison?" Toby asks and he knows the answer already.

"Because some force out there wants to see us miserable."

"I will see you soon , a month is nothing. Who knows maybe by the time you get back I will have the balls to leave Alison." Toby tried to make light of the situation causing Spencer to let out a tiny dry laugh.

"I look forward to seeing that that then." Spencer tries to be earnest but they both knew it was a lie.

"I look forward to seeing you again. Goodnight Spencer." Toby suddenly pulls back from their world .

"Goodnight Toby , until next time."

* * *

Toby and Spencer don't cross paths for another twenty years. After Spencer had left town shocking everyone and no one at the same time. Toby didn't stay in Rosewood long enough after she left to know if she ever returned or not. He heard through the grapevine that Spencer had left to join some drug fueled cult though Toby just laughed when he heard it. Melissa mentioned once that Spencer was happy to be back in school to finish getting her degree. Toby believed that story over all of them and hoped that Spencer was truly happy with what happened with her life.

The reason why Toby left Rosewood was a slightly different story. Alison had told Toby that she was in love with someone else and thought it would be unfair to trap him, spewing the bullshit she had been rehearsing ever since Emily had said that she was going to be moving closer to her family in Florida due to her fathers ailing health. Alison said that she was going to follow Emily to the end of the earth if she had to. That she was tired of being trapped , and Toby being the man he was just set her free. Of course he and Alison had split amicably , and Alison even asked Toby to more or less be a sperm donor for her and Emily since she thought it would be nice for the kids to all have the same dad since Emily wanted to carry the child. Toby of course said yes and through a series of texts , emails , and Facebook posts he tracked his biological daughters life. He met her a few times when he flew down from New York to visit David and Mila during their major life moments. Every graduation , wedding , grandchild , and occasional surprise Alison sanctioned visit.

He returns to Rosewood once. For Alison's funeral . Toby had known that her health was going down hill when Mila had said that she was moving in with Alison and Emily to keep an eye on them both after Emily had a health scare the year before when she went to the doctor to get a mole on her back checked out. It wasn't a shock when Alison called him to say she and Emily were moving back to Rosewood due to Alisons doctor saying that she was showing signs when she had tests done and it was what they feared it would be. The doctor gave Alison three years maximum to live , she died from committing suicide three months after her move back.

So there he stood at his ex wives funeral when a woman in her late forties pushes her way to the front and from the moment he sees her eyes he knows its his Spencer. The one who got away , the one he had prayed was happy.

Toby intercepts her just as she looks like she is going to leave his life again as soon as she was back in it.

"Spencer!" Toby calls and she looks at him acknowledging his existence completely , like she couldn't deny that they were brought back together possibly by fate.

"Toby , it's been so long."

"I never thought that I would see you again , let alone at my ex wife's funeral." Toby said to her taking in her aged appearance. No longer were her loose brown curls and dark circles under her eyes. New before him stood a woman with her hair put into a tight ponytail and lines that showed years of life , laughter , and a little bit of heartache. Though no matter how changed she appeared to be he could still see Spencer , every last essence of her.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here , Emily told me that she was thinking about sending you an invite but didn't know if you would want to come since you and Ali weren't super super close. Plus how traveling may be hard on you." Spencer tried to explain.

"Yeah getting here wasn't the easiest. I didn't know you and Alison were so close. Nothing should surprise me I guess. I didn't even think that you would even be in town."

"Yeah , it was weird at first coming back. My parents each died a few years back and I happened to inherit the house , so my family and I just sort of moved back. It didn't take me long to learn some family secrets. Alison was my sister or half sister at least. My father had a long term affair with her mother which resulted in Alison and Cece. I found out after Ali cornered me one day a few months ago. Started telling me that she wanted to know more about me I guess. We sort of grew closer , she told me about her marriage to you and then her path of self discovery. Her kids , my kids came into discussion a few times. "

"What happened to you? One night you were telling me that you were getting away for a few weeks and next thing I know you were gone for good. I was worried about you."

"I went back to school. Got a degree in nursing in a small college in a small town and just sort of stayed. Got involved with the art professor . I got pregnant a few months before graduation and ended up marrying the guy when our daughter turned two. I just couldn't come back at first , Melissa and I were in the middle of an all out war when we left if you remember at all. I needed to get away from this town and my family and just move on. I did just that. "

"Are you happy?"

"Not as happy as I was when we were together. Are you?"

"I am content , I accepted my fate a while ago when I came to terms that we probably would never see each other again. Have a nice house and a dog. Living my life through my kids stories. "

"I'm sure you have your own stories. You had a pretty exciting life before Alison. I loved hearing you talk about them. "

"You were the only one who never got bored." Toby smiled at Spencer who easily smiled back at him like the two decades they spent apart didn't exist until a tall young man in his late teens comes over jogging like he is in a rush. He looks almost like a male Spencer doppelganger apart from the blue eyes that he had seen in David and Mila. Toby slightly pales but doesn't let anything change in his demeanor.

"Ma we need to go. We need to get back to the house. I'm sorry for interrupting your discussion but Johnny just called and Natalie's flight just landed. Johnny is going to go get her now. "

"I am sorry Toby but I guess I need to go. This is my son Will, Will this is Toby. He is Alison's ex-husband. I think I told you about him a couple times." Spencer says trying to introduce the two before they depart likely for the last time.

"it's nice to meet you Toby."

"You too Will." The two do a small nod of acknowledgement.

"Now can we go , Johnny wanted to make sure Natalie isn't stranded too long." Will asks and Toby awkwardly coughs. Knowing this was a chance encounter and the odds were that he would never see Spencer again in his life.

"Well I guess I will leave you two to your business. Spencer it was great seeing you , I hope your life has a much better ending than it seemed to begin."

"I hope you found peace with everything Toby. Until next time." Spencer says and Toby knows that she doesn't want to say goodbye.

"Until next time Spencer."

* * *

Toby Cavanaugh is a man of many things. One of those things is stupid.

At age twenty nine he should have known better than to attend his friend Jason's extreme fitness class. He had an important shoot with model Alison Dilaurentis in a few days when he got back from visiting his father , he hadn't met her yet but from what he had been told she is very particular for who does the photos for her friends magazine. Toby had met Hanna a couple of months ago when Caleb introduced her to him as his girlfriend.

After a nice run for several years traveling the world experiencing different cultures and taking photos along the way for his portfolio he decided to take a step back and start switching from photojournalism to just plain fashion photographer. He decided to take his step back a couple years back after his mother passed away . From there he found some success in the fashion world but nothing he knew that compared to what would have happened if he stayed in his field.

But that mistake was nothing compared to the mistake that is causing his arm to throb in pain as he sits in the white walled room in the Rosewood hospital. Jason had taken him out to Rosewood so that they could get the best care possible even if they had to drive an hour to get there.

"Hi I'm sorry about the wait, my name is Doctor Kingston and I will be assisting you and your arm today. I hope you don't mind , I have a medical student who is shadowing me this week. If this bothers you she can leave." A man with a thick English accent says as he walks into a room with a familiar girl though Toby can't place where he knows her from. She is silent looking down at a clip board studying the words on the pages before she looks up at him and is almost as frozen in place as he is. The pain in his arm suddenly seeming insignificant.

"Do you two know each other?" The Doctor asks and Toby is the first one to respond.

"I don't know , I think we may have met once."


End file.
